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~❤️🩹~
When Hajime entered Hotel Mirai first thing in the morning, he did not expect to see Teruteru right away; the chef was currently taking a form of maternity leave, so he had often been away from the hotel…
…but from the state Teruteru was in, the brunette could tell that his friend was having a really bad day.
Teruteru was sitting on one of the couches, bawling his eyes out into his hands. Hajime could also see that his friend’s lavender knitted sweater was stained and his hair was messy, a sign that today was definitely a bad day for him.
“Hey, Teruteru…?” Hajime asked, trying to catch his friend’s attention. “Are you alright…?”
He knew that Teruteru and the islanders who had also been pregnant were often delicate with emotions thanks to the hormones, with some of them even crying over the smallest of things, so he felt the need to ask.
Shortly after asking that, however, the chef did not respond, likely because he could not hear his friend over his own wailing.
Oh boy, Hajime thought to himself as he looked at Teruteru. He must be having a worse day than I thought… I need to do something…
Noticing that there was space available on the couch, the brunette headed over and sat down next to Teruteru, hoping his friend would be able to notice him then.
“Teruteru?” Hajime asked as he turned to the chef. “Are you doing alright?”
Much to the brunette’s relief, Teruteru heard him and turned to look at him. Hajime winced the moment he saw the chef’s face; his eyes and cheeks were reddened and puffy, and his face was messy from all the tears, saliva and mucus he shed.
“…no!!” Teruteru replied to Hajime’s question almost immediately, his voice shaky from crying. “D-D-Does it LOOK like a-ah’m fine ta’ ya??”
Hajime winced, knowing that was a somewhat stupid question to ask. “Right. Sorry, Teruteru…” he replied with a frown, yet still wished to elaborate on his question. “What I meant to ask is if something happened. Like… are you hurt or stressed out about something?”
Teruteru turned towards the window while sobbing. “E-E’erythang,” he choked out. “E’erythang is goin’ w-wrong for m-me!!”
“I see…” Hajime replied with a concerned frown. “Only if you want to, can you elaborate on what exactly happened? I’ll try my best to help out.”
The chef looked back at his brunette friend… and right away, whatever was on his mind spilled out.
“M-M-Mah entire body hurts~!!” he wailed. “I-It’s like s-someone is try’na c-crush mah whole b-body…!! A-And a-ah’m such a klutz as well!! E’erythang ah try to do, ah ALWAYS mess it all up!!”
Teruteru then stopped for a moment to look down, his hands holding his baby bump protectively. “B-But ah’m also scared, Hajime…” he spoke softly. “Scared a-abou’ having mah l’il bun… wh-what it somethin’ goes w-wrong? What if somethin’ happens to her? Wh-what if somethin’ happens… ta’ me…? Ah mean… i-it almost happened to Nagito, d-didn’ it…?”
Hajime sighed a little bit nodded as he listened to his friend’s words, and after the chef was done venting, the former spoke up.
“Teruteru…” he sighed. “I don’t know how else to say this, but I have a feeling that you’ll be alright, no matter what.” He placed a comforting hand on the chef’s back. “Being anxious about childbirth is a common thing, as I’ve seen with our other friends here… and yes, while Nagito did end up with complications, all that matters is that he and the baby are alive…” He then looked at Teruteru. “And as for you, you’ve been able to get this far without any serious issues, so I have a feeling you’ll do just as fine in childbirth as well.”
Teruteru looked surprised upon hearing his friend’s words. “Y-ya really… think so…?” he asked as he looked up at Hajime through teary eyes.
Hajime nodded with a smile. “I think so,” he replied. “And besides, it won’t be long until she’s finally born, so you make sure to take it easy and don’t stress yourself out too much, alrig- whoa!”
The brunette was surprised by Teruteru suddenly hugging him, the chef’s distended frame almost bowling him over. Luckily, Hajime was able to steady himself on the couch so he would not fall down.
“Th-thank you, Hajime…” Teruteru said softly as he hugged the brunette, taking a moment to wipe away his tears. “Ah… ah think ah needed ta’ hear dat…”
“I’m glad,” Hajime nodded as he hugged the chef back. “Don’t worry, no matter what happens, we’re all here for you.”
The two friends hugged each other for a few seconds before pulling away, where Hajime looked at the chef’s sweater. “Oh, and another thing…” he said. “If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly happened…?” He gestured to the sweater.
Teruteru immediately blushed upon remembering that his sweater was stained. “O-Oh! Well… abou’ dat…” the chef chuckled a little nervously. “Ah was try’na make mahself some nachos, but as ya can see… it went horribly wrong…”
“I figured,” Hajime replied, yet he still smiled. “But don’t worry about it, it happens.” He then had an idea to cheer up the chef a little more. “How about I make the nachos instead, while you rest up nearby? While I may not be an Ultimate Chef like you are, I’ll make sure it still tastes good!”
Teruteru immediately smiled at the offer. “I wouldn’ mind,” he replied. “As long as dey have extra cheese an’ bacon bits… oh, an’ make sure it has plenty of chilli sauce as well, da hottest one we got~!”
“Craving something spicy today, huh?” Hajime replied with slight amusement, mainly because the chef had almost always eaten sweet and sugary food throughout his pregnancy. “Sure, anything for the mother-to-be and his baby!” He then turned towards the stairs. “Now let’s head up…”
The two friends then headed upstairs, with Hajime watching over Teruteru just in case. Once the two made it to the hotel restaurant, Hajime went straight to the kitchen, while Teruteru headed over to the lounge setup.
Teruteru sat on the armchair and leaned back, lifting his legs and placing them on the ottoman in front. He allowed the soft fabric of the armchair and ottoman to caress his aching body, like he was floating in a pool of feathers.
The chef sighed contentedly and closed his eyes, his hands resting on the sides of his baby bump. He felt calmer now that he had spoken about his worries with Hajime; perhaps he was right, maybe the birth would not be so bad.
Besides, he remembered Sonia, Peko and even Akane talking about their own births, and how it was an amazing experience for them. Teruteru had a feeling that he would enjoy his experience as well, even with the pains he was told about (though the Braxton-Hicks he often experienced were already an indicator of what it would be like exactly).
Only five minutes had passed before the chef saw Hajime approach him, holding a heating pack with a hibiscus pattern.
“Hey, Teruteru, I figured I’d heat this up for you,” Hajime said as he held up the heating pack. “You said you were having issues with pain, right? Let me put this on your back for you…”
The moment the chef felt the warmth of the heating pack touch his back, he breathed a sigh of relief. His back had been hurting, like it usually did nowadays, but the heat started to release all of the tension, making him feel more relaxed.
“Ahh~ Oh, dat feels much better…” Teruteru said with a smile as he leaned back. “Thank you again, Hajime…!”
The brunette smiled back. “You’re welcome,” he replied. “I’ll be heading back to the kitchen now; your nachos are almost done and will be ready for you to eat.”
“Ah, excellent!” the chef said with a smile as he watched Hajime head back to the kitchen, then he closed his eyes for a few minutes again.
Even with the anxiety and slight fears he had, Teruteru really could not wait to give birth to his baby girl and finally hold her in his arms.
Of course, he would still miss that baby bump of his as well. The chef looked down at his belly and placed his hands on it once again; although his baby girl was asleep right now, he could still feel the occasional squirm from her.
Well, Teruteru had a feeling that once he started eating those nachos, his baby girl would wake up and start kicking again; he just hoped that she liked spicy food!
And speaking of those nachos, Hajime showed up again, holding a plate of steaming hot nachos that smelled so, so, so good.
“They’re ready!” the brunette said as he placed the plate on the side table. “Hopefully I did an alright job.”
The chef glanced over at the plate of nachos on the side table, and oh my goodness, did they look delicious! The cheese was perfectly melted and oozing down the nachos and bacon bits, and the whole dish was lathered in Mexican hot sauce.
“Oh, Hajime…!!” Teruteru gasped the moment his eyes fell on the nachos. “It’s perfect! Dis is exactly what ah pictured in mah head!” His eyes brimmed with happy tears as he looked back up at his friend. “Thank you so much, Hajime! Ah’ll definitely be eatin’ dese up!”
“No problem,” Hajime replied with a small smile before turning around. “Anyway, I’ll leave you to it. Now that I’ve been in the kitchen, I should probably head back there and start making breakfast for the others.”
“A’ight, have fun… and be careful!” Teruteru said as he watched Hajime head back to the kitchen.
The moment Teruteru was left alone, he immediately grabbed the plate of nachos and dug in, the chef uttering happy and satisfied sounds as he let the textures and flavours of the homemade nachos explode in his mouth like fireworks.
While Teruteru had always liked homemade nachos, today was one of those days where it tasted exceptionally delicious; one of the many wonders of pregnancy cravings!
And who could blame the chef for finding the nachos delicious anyway?
The nacho chips were crispy and subtle-tasting, and the melted cheese balanced that out with its creamy flavour and soft, gooey texture. The umami flavours of the fried bacon bits and the spiciness of the copious amounts of hot sauce added to the perfect mix of tastes and textures in this dish.
Teruteru knew he would probably give himself a heartburn flareup later, but at this point in time, he did not care, knowing that eating such a delicious plate of spicy nachos was worth the pain.
Either way, it still made the chef very happy and feeling better after a rough morning!
~❤️🩹~